American History Hit

Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, John Wayne. We've seen them roping and wrangling and defeating their enemies, all by the time the credits role.But what was the role of cowboys in the real wild west? What was the role of black men in this industry? And how have they been erased in popular culture?In this episode, Don speaks first with Roger Hardaway, professor of history at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Roger has written and researched extensively on the American West, and is the co-editor of African Americans on the Western Frontier.Don is then joined by Tony Warner, founder of Black History Walks and co-founder of the African Odysseys programme, to talk about how the inclusion of black people on the screen has evolved.Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From 800 to 1300 CE, a great religious movement swept Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi valley. This Medieval Warm Period was one of the most consequential eras in North American history. In this era, the continent was shaped by climate change or – as its peoples then believed – controlled by gods of wind and water.In this episode of our History Hit sister podcast, Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to archaeologist Dr. Timothy Pauketat, author of Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America. He has followed the footsteps of priests, pilgrims, traders and farmers led by the weather to migrate long distances to new lands.This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 13 day siege. 90 minutes of fighting. An almost 200 year legacy and the most popular tourist site in the state of Texas.The 1836 Battle of the Alamo has become a symbol of Texan pride and independence, and also a springboard for conversations about Texas' relationship with slavery.To find out more about the battle, the site and what really happened to David Crockett, Don spoke with Kolby Lanham, Senior Researcher and Historian at the Alamo.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Quincy Adams didn't just share a name with his father. He also followed in his footsteps to take the Presidency, and then lose it after one term.In this episode of our series on the Presidencies of the United States, we're onto the sixth commander-in-chief.Don is joined once again by Christopher Young. Chris is a Professor of History at Indiana University Northwest and among his many publications wrote “Serenading the President: John Adams, the XYZ Affair, and the 18th-Century American Presidency” for Federal History.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean from Louisiana State University discusses the potential consequences of a Union surrender in the Civil War, including the future of slavery and the impact on Brazil and Cuba. The podcast also explores the hypothetical scenario of a Confederate victory and its profound consequences, such as potential border crisis and long-term effects on the United States and the world.

In 1969, at the height of US presence, there were over half a million Americans in Vietnam.But why were they there in the first place? When did the conflict in Vietnam begin and how did it escalate towards US involvement?Pierre Asselin is the author of A Bitter Peace: Washington, Hanoi, and the Making of the Paris Agreement and Hanoi’s Road to the Vietnam War, 1954-1965. He and Don discuss the origins of the Vietnam war in domestic and international relations.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'It's one of those threads you pull on and immediately you're connected to the whole fabric of American history.'The American Buffalo, Bison Bison, is an icon of American identity. It is also the subject of a new two part documentary from legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and his team.In this episode, Don and Ken explore the relationship between the United States and the buffalo, and how this relationship spills into 10,000 years of social, economic and ecological history.Watch 'The American Buffalo', a two part series directed and executive produced by Ken Burns, written by Dayton Duncan, and produced by Julie Dunfey and Ken Burns, on PBS on October 16 and 17, 2023.Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serving from 1817 to 1825, James Monroe's presidency was only the fifth presidency of the United States. Monroe's time in power saw the development of republicanism and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 signalled the growing cracks between north and south.But this was also the end of an era. Monroe was the final President of the United States to have been a Founding Father.He was also the last of the three presidents to have died on July 4th. To find out why this was a strangely fitting end to Monroe's life, Don spoke to Dr. Brook Poston, Associate Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, author of 'James Monroe: A Republican Champion' and co-author of 'Parallel Lives: Romans and the American Founders'.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not one of the US forces led by General George Custer into the attack on 25 June 1876 survived. But the story of 'Custer's Last Stand' as it was known for a long time, has long been told by the settlers, rather than the indigenous people who survived.In this episode, Don talks to Lindsay Stallones Marshall, Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University. Together, they talk through the battle and the opposing narratives and names of it.She is the author of 'Teaching Us to Forget: The Wars of Westward Expansion, U.S. History Education, & Public Memory, 1870 - 1995'.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is a bat bomb? Why would you cover a fox in radioactive paint? And who are the masterminds behind the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA?In this episode, Don is joined by John Lisle to discuss the creations of the Research and Development branch at the Office of Strategic Services.John is the author of 'The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare' and a lecturer at the University of Texas, specialising in the history of science.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, James Holland, Mary Beard and more.Get 50% off your first 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribeYou can take part in our listener survey here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.